Get Started with the Rebrandly MCP in 5 Minutes or Less

The Rebrandly MCP turns hours of link work into seconds of conversation. Here's how to set it up.

Last week we showed 50+ marketers and developers how the Rebrandly MCP (Model Context Protocol) server transforms link management. Operations that aren't possible in our dashboard become simple prompts. Migrate dozens of links between workspaces with one sentence. Handle bulk campaign updates that require endless clicking with one conversation. Get analytics across multiple dashboards by asking.

This guide gets you running and shows you what to try first.

Why Use the MCP

The Rebrandly MCP changes what you can do with link management.

• ‍Workspace migration: Moving links between workspaces isn't available in our dashboard—you'd need to recreate each link manually. With MCP: "Move all links tagged 'old-campaign' from Marketing workspace to Archive workspace."‍
• Bulk operations: Updating 30 campaign links to point to a new landing page and add a new tag means 60+ clicks in the dashboard. With MCP: "Find all links tagged 'summer-2025', update their destinations to newsite.com/summer, and add tag 'active-campaign'."‍
• Conversational analytics: Instead of navigating to reports, filtering by date, exporting CSVs, and building charts: "Show me my top 10 links from last quarter, grouped by workspace, with click counts."

This works for marketers managing multiple campaigns, agencies juggling client workspaces, and enterprise teams coordinating across departments. If you're new to MCP, read our introduction to the Rebrandly MCP first.

Setup Takes 5 Minutes

The fastest way to start is Claude Code. One command installs everything.

You'll need a Rebrandly account and an API key from your dashboard at rebrandly.com/user/api.

Open Claude Code and run:

bash
npx -y @rebrandly/mcp-server

Paste your API key when prompted.

Test it: "List my Rebrandly links"

You should see your links displayed in the chat.

Using a different AI assistant? The Rebrandly MCP works with Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code with Copilot, Gemini CLI, and Amazon Q. See our complete setup guide for detailed instructions for each platform.

What to Do with the MCP

Easy Functions

Start with three basic prompts that show how conversational link management works.

• ‍"List my Rebrandly links"‍
  
  • You should see a formatted list of your links with domains, slashtags, destinations, and click counts.‍
• "Create a short link for https://example.com with the slashtag 'test-mcp'"‍
  
  • Your AI assistant creates the link and shows you the short URL. Check your dashboard—it's there.‍
    
• "Show me click statistics for my most recent link"‍
  
  • Instead of navigating dashboards and filtering dates, you asked a question and got an answer.

Advanced Functions: Workspace Migration

Try something that isn't possible in the dashboard: workspace migration.

You have 25 links in your "Q4 Campaign" workspace that need to move to "Archive 2024". In the dashboard, you'd recreate each link manually—there's no bulk move feature. 2+ hours of copying destinations, slashtags, tags, and settings.

With MCP:

Prompt: "List all links in my 'Q4 Campaign' workspace"

Your AI shows you the links. Verify these are what you want to move.

Prompt: "Move all these links to my 'Archive 2024' workspace"

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What else isn't possible in the dashboard but works with MCP?

• Bulk tag updates across workspaces
• Generating custom analytics reports
• Auditing link libraries for cleanup
• Updating hundreds of campaign links at once

Even More Use Cases

What to automate based on your role.

• ‍Campaign Managers: Run a weekly cleanup. "Show me all links I created this week with zero clicks. Tag them 'review-performance'." Then decide what to update or archive.‍
• Agency Teams: Generate client reports. "Show me all links in the [Client Name] workspace from last month, grouped by campaign tag, with click counts and top referrers." Copy-paste into your report deck.‍
• Marketing Ops: Audit before big launches. "Find all links with destinations pointing to our old domain. List them by workspace." Then bulk update them in one prompt.‍
• Developers: Create links in your workflows. Instead of dashboard clicking or API calls, tell your AI assistant what links you need while you're working in your IDE.

For more specific workflows, see our MCP use cases guide.

Troubleshooting

"I don't see my links when I test"

Your API key might not be configured correctly. Check that you pasted the full key with no extra spaces. In Claude Desktop, restart after editing the config file.

"I'm getting authentication errors"

Generate a new API key at rebrandly.com/user/api and replace the old one in your configuration. Some platforms cache credentials, so you may need to restart your AI assistant.

"The commands don't match what I'm seeing"

Different AI assistants format MCP responses differently. Claude Desktop might show results as formatted text while Claude Code might show them as structured data. Both work—just different display styles.

"It's slow to respond"

The first request after installing can take a few seconds as the MCP server initializes. Subsequent requests are faster. If every request is slow, check your internet connection—the MCP needs to reach Rebrandly's API.

For setup issues specific to your platform, see our API documentation or the full MCP guide.

You're Running

You went from zero to running in 5 minutes. You've verified it works, created a link, and tried conversational analytics.

Watch the full webinar recording above to see more examples, or try your first bulk operation.

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